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By Steve Mister

Every industry has its bad apples, and unfortunately, the dietary supplement industry is no exception. The recent GAO study demonstrates that this congressional agency was able to ferret out and spotlight the illegal behavior of a few bad actors. That's a call for better enforcement of the law, not a rewrite of it.

The fundamental question is whether the current regulatory framework, when properly implemented, gives consumers appropriate access and adequate assurance in the safety and benefits of these products. Fortunately, that answer is yes.

With more than 150 million Americans taking dietary supplements each year, these products — multivitamins, fish oil, calcium, glucosamine, phytosterols, CoQ10 and more — have high safety profiles and strong science to support their beneficial effects on health. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act balances consumer access to healthful products with minimizing the safety risks. As FDA Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein acknowledged last week, DSHEA strikes the right balance, but FDA needs to do more to maintain that equilibrium. FDA must use the tools it was given under the law to address the issues that hurt the credibility of responsible companies and undermine consumer confidence.

This industry has worked to get additional safeguards in place over the past five years: Our consumers will continue to benefit from new Good Manufacturing Practices rules, mandatory reporting to FDA of serious adverse events, and closer monitoring of dietary supplement advertising through a self-regulatory program with the Council of Better Business Bureaus. And let's be clear: Products spiked with drugs and marketed as dietary supplements are illegal, as are late-night ads or telephone sales reps that promise supplements can cure diseases and help you drop 30 pounds while eating all you want. Government should use the criminal sanctions in DSHEA to drive these folks out of the legitimate market.

We call on Congress to support recently introduced legislation by Sens. Orrin Hatch and Tom Harkin to provide FDA with more funding and require further agency accountability. The supplement industry fully supports implementation of existing laws because our industry is committed to the health of its consumers.

Steve Mister is president and CEO of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a Washington D.C.-based trade association for the dietary supplement industry.

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